As I mentioned in the Bolts, the store is stocked again with shirts so if you missed out on a Zombie Sonics or Go Green tee, run and getcha one. But also, today we’re putting out the newest design. As Tree and Leaf put it, “Let me introduce you to 8-Armed Velvet Hoop, Kid Delicious the Vicious, The Web-Slinging Junkyard Dog himself: THE DURANTULA!”

DT-Shirts re-stocked yesterday so if you’re looking for a sweet new tee, go get one. Also, the Durantula shirt will be out soonish so started preparing your brain for it.

Ryan Schwan of Hornets 24/7 compiled a bunch of team info off HoopData: “There is one team, however, that has some very strange results: Oklahoma City. The shots opponents get against the Thunder would typically result in a 4th best(for the opponent) effective Field Goal Percentage of 50.3%. Instead, and I think this has to do with the freakishly long limbs of Durant, Westbrook and Sefolosha, the Thunder contest well, and only allow a 2nd-best “opponent eFG%” of 47.11%.” Keep Reading…

NBA defenders are a wily bunch and Oklahoma City is still an incredibly young team. They’re just beginning to tackle the inordinately difficult task of finding open shots against the world’s longest, most agile and most intuitive defenders. Right now, those defenders are zeroing in on Kevin Durant. That’s going to force everyone on the Thunder to be more resourceful. The coaching staff will have to find new ways to get Durant open. Durant’s teammates will have to learn how to run better interference between Durant and defensive aces like Anthony Parker. Most of all, Durant will have to figure out how to make defenses pay for overplaying him.

It turns out there’s some relevant precedence for this. Remember the Cavs’ 2007 50-32 squad that made the Finals? That team was 19th in offensive efficiency. And while LeBron James has always been an instinctive passer — something you can’t really say about Durant — it took some time for him to establish that trust with teammates. Durant’s just getting started. There’s no reason to doubt that the strides we’ve seen Durant make in his game over the past three months won’t translate into an improvement in his team’s overall offensive efficiency.

The truth is, it already has, but there’s still more ground to cover.

And remember, as you read all this, keep in mind Kevin Durant is 21 years old and is in his third year and the team around him is equally as young. It’ll make you feel a whole lot better.

I don’t mean to go all Over-analyzing Sportswriter (also known as Jay Mariotti Syndrome) on you here, but I couldn’t help but wonder something as I reflected on four excruciating losses by grand total of five points: Could it be a good thing in the long run?

Now I know how stupid that is. Normally I’m the guy cursing the sky and yelling at an inanimate object when some writer tries to get Inside The Game and crawl into a player’s psyche. Of COURSE it’s not a good thing that OKC lost those four games. That’s just silly. Had they won all four of them, they’d be 28-16 and fourth in the West. Heck, had they won just two (which is entirely reasonable) the Thunder would sit at 26-18 and fifth in the West. So obviously we all would rather have had the wins and forsaken any potential learning scenarios to garner there.

But since I’m trying to find the sunny side in these four defeats, I’ll look at it this way: If a lot of a young team’s maturation process happens in tough losses where you have to look in the mirror and figure out what went wrong instead of right, then Oklahoma City got a season’s worth in these last two weeks. Yeah, it’s not a playoff loss in a seven game series. You really learn there and really feel the heartache and anguish of defeat.

But this team was in four games against quality opponents where it came down to a final possession. One stop here. One bucket there. Execute properly on an inbounds play. Whatever it is, there are things to take from the games. I worry that this string of heartbreakers may come back to bite the Thunder in April when they’re trying to make that playoff push, but still, the experience of having to look back on four tough losses may be almost equally valuable. (I said ALMOST, alright?) Keep Reading…

This was a great answer from Scott Brooks in a Q&A: “Q How does Russell Westbrook need to be like you as a point guard? A Zero ways. If that’s the case, we wouldn’t be winning right now. I was very average. Everything I had, I left it on the court. There wasn’t one time I went home and wished I would have played harder. Not one practice, not one shootaround. I always believed once I did that, I didn’t deserve to be in the league.”

Darnell Mayberry talking about the p-word: “Among Western Conference playoff contenders, Oklahoma City has the third easiest schedule in the second half of the season based on opponent winning percentage. And 20 of the Thunder’s final 38 games are at home.” Keep Reading…

The mighty Thunder gave a valiant effort on the road against the top team in the East and come home on the down side; however earning a split on the roadie at 2-2. How’s that for a little sunshine on a rainy night?

I just wrote last night in the recap that I was done with moral victories; that was for last year. I was spoiled by the recent success and I want wins. With that said, I actually need to contradict myself and say that I am not too upset about this and that I was pretty happy with the effort if not the outcome. Does that mean I am taking away the moral victory? I don’t know. Whatever. But either way, Cleveland is one hell of a good team and we did a very good job coming back from 14 down and hitting our stride with that 21-8 run in the third. To be right there with the Cavs on the road at crunch time is better than a win over the Nets at home I say.

Cleveland just amazes me. The sheer amount of talent on that team is hard to get your arms around. I guess if money is no object you can buy whatever you want and Cleveland has signed up tons of quality players. Shaq? Well he is a shell of his former self, but he is still a hog in the paint and he changes shots and has a little mojo. He is still a game changer in his reduced capacity and increased girth. They didn’t have their first or second option at PG because Delonte and Mo were in the MASH unit? No worries, just trot out Boobie Gibson. He can hit some shots as you probably noticed. He doesn’t need to assist on any shots because Lebron does all of that. Big Z, Varajao, Parker, it’s just a bit mind boggling.

I think the big picture view of the game however was defense. The Thunder and the Cavs are both top five defensive teams in the association depending on how you want to measure it. They are both tied for league best at FG% allowed with 43.6%. The teams are number 4 and 5 in points allowed per game. The Thunder are number 4 in defensive rating and Cleveland is number 6. The Thunder are number 1 in eFG% allowed and Cleveland is number 3. Yet tonight Cleveland held the Thunder to 38% on field goals and 41.3% eFG, while themselves shooting 49% on field goals and painful 58% eFG. The Cavs got it done defensively and the Thunder didn’t.

The little things matter and this game could’ve been had. The Cavs left the door open for us to steal by shooting a ridiculous 50% from the free throw line and committing 17 turns. But the Thunder couldn’t even get a third of their shots to fall in the fourth quarter after some brilliant play in the third.